For the love of CARS

If you know Andrew at all, then you will know of his undying love for CARS. He is addicted to them, and plays with them all of the time. They appear in every nook and cranny in our house, and he can tell you who gave him each one, and what make and model it is. Below is a picture of his "car area" right by the window in our sunroom. He can literally stand here for hours playing with the cars. He drives them, lines them up, spins them up-side-down, crashes them, and does pretty much anything else with them.

Also, over the last 6 months, he has developed an amazing skill related to cars: he can name ANY kind of car he sees on the street. He has literally memorized every brand logo and emblem that shows on a car. He walks down the road and yells out "Audi car, Ford car, Chevy truck, Acura car, Beemer car, Toyota car, Volvo car" for every one he sees. It is amazing!! He is always asking "what kind is it?" if he sees a new car he doesn't know. Yesterday he learned Land Rover and Infiniti, so now he has those figured out.

The twins turn 2.5 years old tomorrow, so I think this is a pretty amazing skill for a boy this young! Come see it for yourself!

Early holiday festivities

Around here, we are full into holiday celebrations. Last week we went to visit the REINDEER and go to a holiday lighting celebration. We thought it would be fun, since they had a small train the kids could ride, and there were going to be real, live reindeer there.

Well, it was way OVERRATED! There were only 2 reindeer (Dasher and Dancer)... um, what about all of the others? And they were so sorry looking, with only little stubs of antlers! Sorry, kids! Oh, and we rode the train, which included riding in a cloud of exhaust smoke. And well, the kids were just plain tired that day, so they cried riding the train. Oh, well!

Here I am with my dear friend Sally and her son, Luke. They, too, fell prey to the great marketing, and decided to come along. We were all there for a grand total of 30 minutes!

Notice the big tears in Andrew's eyes!

Isn't this the sorriest looking reindeer you have ever seen?

On a lighter note, we did go buy our Xmas tree the day before Thanksgiving. Would you believe we were the first ones to buy a tree at Home Depot? We picked the best one, and it cost us a mere $19.97! Gotta love living in the Evergreen State!

Greta helps with the lights...

A Gingerbread house...

The kids are at a delightful age where "activities" are so fun for them. This is one of my favorite things to do with them, and I try to find a special activity to do almost every day (which is hard!). Anyway, a few days ago, we made a gingerbread house - it was great! Greg did the hard work, and the rest of us got to put the candy on. Hailey, who is our candy freak, was sneaking little bites all day long. And Daddy, who has a soft spot in his heart for Hailey's big brown eyes, was sneaking her candy off the house even after it was built!

Nana and Charlie visit!

My mom (Nana) and my stepdad Charlie were in town all of last week for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful week, despite a wee bit of rain! They spoiled the kids rotten, and played lots of activities with them.

Charlie was especially good at making animals out of play-doh! I think he is a child himself still?

We love you, Nana and Grandpa Charlie!

Conversations heard 'round here...

A few recent conversations heard 'round here:

Mommy: Andrew, what do you want for breakfast?
Drew: Cupcakes!
Mommy: Um, well, we probably should have something else. What else do you want for breakfast?
Drew: Dinner!

Mommy: Hailey, do you want to go on a special trip to get ice cream with mommy?
Hailey: Yes. Naked.

Mommy: Do you want to go and see the reindeer tomorrow? Do you know that the reindeer all pull Santa's sleigh? Then they fly in the sky, and stop at our house. Then Santa comes down the chimney to bring presents to all of us. Reindeer are a big part of Christmas.
Hailey: Sounds good.

Today Hailey was looking through our Picture Bible, looking for all of the stories she knows, and she said, ".... I see Noah's Ark..... where is Itsy Bitsty Spider?" Ha!

Also, the kids don't usually say the letter "S" when it starts a word. (It is the last sound that is developed in their vocabularly.) So, Greg and I often laugh because certain words sound so funny. Here are a few:
- "Twinkle, twinkle little tar"
- Around Halloween, we saw lots of houses with 'Pider Webs in the window.
- tonight, Drew said to Hailey "No 'creaming, Hailey"

Our kids make us laugh all of the time.

To Minnesota with Greta...

This last week I went to Minnesota with Greta to visit my family there. I have such a wonderful family, and it makes me sad that I am raising my kids 1000 miles away from them, so it is a big priority for me to visit and see them as much as I can! I wanted my extended family to meet Greta before she grows up too much!

My mom and stepdad Charlie spoiled us rotten, and we loved it. Mom threw a luncheon for her friends, so that they could all meet the new grandbaby. It was lovely, and fun for everyone.

Greta was a champ on both of the flights - charming the stewardesses, and luckily, not crying at all. She is such an easy delightful baby, and I am so grateful everyone got to meet her. As for me, I enjoyed my time in MN because I only had ONE baby to worry about! I got in some good running time in the sunshine, had some long enjoyable meals, and did a shopping trip to the Mall of America (where there is no sales tax!).

On my dad's side, we had a big dinner one night with the aunt/uncle/cousins/stepsiblings. It was a wonderful evening, and Greta was passed around all evening. She did great! Also, dad and I had a special 1:1 lunch one day, which was a treat!

My stepbrother Matt and his wife Robyn had fun holding Greta. Greta fell right asleep in Robyn's lap!

And while Greta and I were away, Greg's mom Judy came to town to visit! Yea - Greg loved the extra help around here. She even brought the yummy gingerbread recipe and made cookies with the twins. Here they are learning how to use the cookie cutter...

After Greta got home... she was so happy to see BroBro, Sister, and Dada...

An Outing a day, keeps boredom away!

I try to always have a morning activity with the kids outside the home, just to keep them learning, growing, active, etc. I work so hard to find new activities, adventures, and places to go. (If anyone in Seattle has good recos, please pass 'em on!)

Anyway, here is an example of some of the things I do with the kids on the weekdays:
- One day this week we went to the Bounce House, which is a huge gym full of inflatable thingys. The kids jumped around for 1.5 hours.
- Today we went to an arts-and-craft activity time at the mall. I have to say it was a little lame, so we left early, and instead found a merry-go-round to ride, and then a pet store to visit. They are so addicted to pet stores, and they love seeing the snakes, guinea pigs, fish, birds, etc. (I highly recommend Petco as a free outing for kids!)
- I try to take them for walk or to a park every day I can. I am literally trying to visit all 40 parks in Bellevue. I just discovered a new one pictured below that is my new favorite, called Robbinswood Park. This one has a great "duck pond" that the kids adore. Today we watched the ducks forever. When I told the kids we were going to the 'duck pond park,' Hailey said "We're coming to see you, Duck Pond!"
- I also have been taking the kids to the Library reading and singing hour every Tuesday. They enjoy learning new songs, and it is good stimulation for them.

Now that the cooler, wet weather is heading our way for the winter, I need all of the indoor activities I can find! I have a whole network of stay-at-home moms, and we are always sharing ideas and meeting for playdates. Thank goodness! But hey, if you have any ideas on how to keep two 2-year olds occupied, lemme know!

Our new favorite park, Robbinswood park:

At the duck pond:

Checking out parakeets at Petco!

On the merry-go-round for the first time...

At the Bounce House earlier this week:


What does Greta do the whole time, you ask? See below! I usually try to time my outings with the twins to be between 10am-12, which is when Greta sleeps. So, if I am lucky, she is like this most of the time we are out!

Four videos...

We have a new HD video camera that we got, and it is SO easy to use, so we have many more videos to share these days. Here are a few from the last week...

Drew gets a nice push from sister


Hailey goes down a slick slide, and keeps on flyin'


The kids recite a new rhyme they learned at library reading hour. (It goes "Tall as a tree, Wide as a house, Thin as a pin, and Small as a mouse" - since you probably cannot understand it all!)


On a walk together... holding hands!